In Pakistan, six convicted in Wali Khan Babar murder

New
York, March 3, 2014--A Pakistani court on Saturday convicted six defendants for their
roles in the murder of Wali Khan Babar, a Geo TV
journalist who was shot dead in Karachi in January
2011, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes
the convictions--the first
in the murder of a Pakistani journalist--but calls on authorities to ensure
the masterminds are brought to justice.

"These convictions
mark a significant step in addressing the deep-rooted culture of impunity
surrounding the murders of journalists in Pakistan. They indicate what can be
achieved when the country's legal system commits itself to pursuing justice,"
said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz. "But justice will remain
incomplete until the masterminds in Wali Khan Babar's case are also brought to
trial."

Judge
Mushtaq Ahmed Leghari, who presided over a special Anti-Terrorism Court,
sentenced Naveed Polka, Muhammad Ali
Rizvi, Faisal Mahmood, and Mohammad Shahrukh Khan to life in prison, news reports said. Two others, Kamran
(alias "Zeeshan") and Faisal Mota, who have not yet been arrested, were given
the death sentence in absentia. A seventh man, Mohammed Shakeel, was acquitted
for lack of evidence, the reports said.

In an alleged video confession posted on YouTube, Khan
said he had been told to follow Babar as he was driving home from work,
according to a Reuters report.
He said Zeeshan had stepped in front of the journalist's car and shot him six
to seven times. The video was authenticated to Reuters by the prosecutor, the report
said.

CPJ
issued a special report in May 2013, "Roots of
Impunity," that documented the lead-up
to Babar's murder and its aftermath. Babar had been threatened in
connection with his coverage of political turf wars, extortion, targeted
killings, electricity theft, and land-grabbing in the crime-ridden city of
Karachi.

After
Babar was slain, unidentified assailants murdered several individuals connected
to the investigation, including a police informant, two police constables, and
the brother of an investigating officer. In 2012, the one remaining witness in
the case was
also killed. He was due to testify in court two days later. The original
prosecutors in the case--Muhammad Khan Buriro and Mobashir Mirza--told CPJ that
they were threatened and eventually fired. They fled the country in late
2011. After these developments, the trial was shifted from Karachi to an anti-terrorism
court in Shikarpur.

Based
on early statements given by the suspects, police said the murder plot was organized
by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, Pakistan's
third-largest political party and considered its most influential secular
political organization. The MQM has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Prior to
the convictions in the Babar murder, the high-profile killing of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl in
Pakistan is the only known journalist murder case in the country in which partial justice was
carried out. At least 46 journalists have been
killed in Pakistan over the course of the last decade, according to CPJ research. The
country is ranked eighth on CPJ's 2013
Impunity
Index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each
country's population.